Origins Of The Joker
by KM Style
Summary: This is my spin on the origins of the all famous Joker. In this series, I hope to show a side of the Joker that most have not really considered. An amazing series that hopes to shed some light on the Joker's past and how he came to be and then some..hehe


**The Inner Joke**

**By **

**Joe K.M.**

_Gotham City…2007…Arkham Penitentiary _

The moonlight glistened and glowed like a star that night and gave a romantic sense of awe and a feeling of peace. Too bad it wasn't so, as the prisoners of Arkham could be heard screaming and bickering amongst themselves as the night slowly ticked away. It was one of the most hated times of the year at Arkham Penitentiary since most of the inmates were mostly men. What was this day of all days, you might be wondering? Why, it was Valentine's Day! And mostly every guy in Arkham was as grumpy as a grizzly bear with a cavity as the guards received gifts from their loved ones outside of those cold stone walls. Those happy smiles didn't last long as the inmates made sarcastic and degrading remarks as the officers opened their gifts. It was customary and most of the senior officers knew how to ignore most of the remarks. But for the rookie officers, they were started to get irritated real quick and there was one in particular that had lost his last nerve. Reaching for his stun gun, he wanted to hurt some of those inmates so bad. Fortunately, one of his higher ups grabbed his hand and shook his head in disapproval. The young greenhorn knew it was wrong as well, but tried to still make a case.

"Sir, this is just too much! No one cares about these inmates and for some of the remarks heard today, I just… Ugh! Come on sir! Please…just one inmate?!"

"You know we have a set of rules to follow, Jimmy. We can't just assault any person we please; there are consequences to every violation and I'm not going to be looked as a section manager who couldn't keep his team in check. Now I know it's rough, but take some comfort in knowing that the day is almost over… Besides…we even turned off the lights, they'll have plenty of time in the dark to reflect on their actions." The team leader laughed before glancing back at the other officers.

"Yeah…after another four more hours… And didn't one of those guys insult your mother?"

"Probably, but I wasn't listening…and its best I didn't…"

"You're just going to take that from him?! From a no good, nut?!"

"What do you want me to do? Be like them and do whatever I want? No son, you can't do that. Boy, if we don't follow rules and order, we'd be no different from them; we have to follow the rules, Jimmy! Now I don't want to hear anything further from you regarding this matter. Since you have no…cough Uh…loved ones, I see no reason why you can't patrol the halls a few times while the rest of the men get to open their gifts."

"Yeah…sure sir."

With a sorrowful look of disappointment, he nodded in agreement and headed out the door. Feeling a bit of compassion, his boss smiled a little and replied.

"Hey, you're doing great, kid! Keep up the good work!"

He didn't feel like smiling, but that compliment meant a lot; it was something that was wanted for so long…approval. He smiled a little as he looked back and nodded.

"Thank you, sir…"

As he opened the exit door from the officer's lunch room, he could faintly hear the other officers mocking and criticizing him again. A look of disappointment and a slight bit of irritation could be seen on his face as he turned on his flash light and proceeded to watch the perimeter. For some strange reason, things were really quiet; too quiet. A part of him wanted to go back and tell the others. But knowing his other comrades, he knew they would just mock him and say; "Why jinx it?"

Shrugging off his inner fears, he proceeded ahead, down the hollow and dim halls. It was so quiet; he could hear the inmates breathing as he saw fainted glistening from their eyes as they watched him walk down the hallway. His heart began to race as his hands trembled; shaking the flashlight as he slowly walked into the next room. He was starting to feel as though they were waiting for something. That was the last straw, something was not right; they never acted like this before.

"Ah, screw it! I gotta tell the boss about this!"

He started to pace himself back to the lunch room when a creaking sound was heard right behind him. He immediately turned around and lit his flashlight at the source of the sound. The light revealed a slightly opened door from the janitor's closet just further ahead. His eyes widened before he turned to run to the lunch room. But as he made a complete turn, a psychotic face that looked completely sinister appeared right in his face. Jimmy's blood froze completely as he started to go into shock; his body started to tremble exceedingly as he lost grip of his flashlight.

"Uhh-uh-uhhuh…."

The once imprisoned inmate started to smirk with confidence as he started to walk around the terrorized officer as he put his hands behind his back as he spoke.

"So, you wanted to teach us all a lesson; huh? Well, here's your chance… And to make things all fair, I'm out of my cage… Probably wondering how I did that, huh? Well, I'll tell you. I have been digging a hole in my cell for years! It felt like an eternity, but it was so worth it to see that look on your pathetic face! A pretty little thing like you…all alone on Valentine's Day… Oh, I'll make this one night you'll never forget…"

The escaped prisoner grinned and looked back at the other inmates screaming out and rooting him on; all their hopes and dreams being manifested in him, free and in a position for some payback. All that could be heard were demands for the death of the young officer. It was already made clear to the young officer's mind that he wasn't going to get out of this alive.

"You see, kid? They all want you dead, but that's because they're too stupid to realize something. You got the key to set them all free."

"Huh?!"

Jimmy looked at his side and saw he was wearing his set of keys. His face turned pale as the insane prisoner started to approach him.

"Give me the keys, Jimmy boy…and I'll let you leave here in one piece…just give me those keys…"

It didn't take long before the others were chanting; "Give him the keys!" Jimmy had one of two choices, give him the keys and hope that a quack would have mercy on a guy that wanted to hurt him five minutes ago, or try to put up a fight. Both plans seemed futile, so he just took the only one that seemed right.

"No… I can't give you these keys…"

"Very well, brat; I guess I'll just take them from your cold dead hands! Ha ha ha! Ugh!"

Before he was able to put his hands on the young lad, a bullet landed right between his eyes before his lifeless body hit the ice cold floor. Jimmy's eyes couldn't get any bigger as he struggled to breathe. He slowly turned around and saw his squad all holding their guns; his boss' gun was still smoking from the shot as he spoke in a calm demeanor.

"Are you alright, Jimmy?"

"I…I…."

Before he could mutter out a sentence, he fainted. The voice of his boss echoed in his head as his name was being called out. It kept repeating until he was able to open his eyes and return to the living. He started to get some color back into his face as he saw the face of his boss.

"Jimmy…it's about time you woke up; you were out all night… Can't say I blame you though, crazy Sam is not someone you'd want to be in an empty hallway with… I helped bust that guy when I was on the force… It's amazing; he kept his escape a total secret…for so many years… We examined his cell, the hole was almost impossible to find. But it's there."

"Sir…I…"

"You don't need to say anything, it's my fault and I've informed my supervisor about it. Chances are I'm going to be fired for this one. But, I'm just relieved I was able to save you and keep this place in order."

"Wha-what?"

"Look, don't say anything, ok? It was my fault, alright? Now, as my last call as your boss; I'm going to have to let you go. What happened last night, it made me realize something, you're not cut out for this kind of work. You're a great kid, Jimmy and I know life has dealt you some bad cards, but I need to do what's best for my boys here and I know this job is too gritty for someone like you. I'm sorry Jimmy, but you're fired. If you need a reference though, I'd be happy to give you one."

Disappointed yet again, something Jimmy was all too familiar with. He just nodded and got up from the seat they had placed him in and proceeded to get his belongings. His boss was disappointed too, he knew it was hard, but it had to be done. It was in everyone's best interest that Jimmy got out of that line of work before something dramatic happened.

The morning was damp and cold as fog surrounded the mental asylum, Jimmy looked back once to see his boss watching him go as the front gates closed. Just as he was about to go, he could hear his boss mutter; "Take care of yourself, kid." Jimmy nodded to himself and proceeded to his car. After stepping in and putting his belongings on the passenger seat, he started to flashback to that deadly moment last night. It still gave him goose bumps as he inserted his key into the slot and started the car. A soft rumble followed by smooth vibration and he was pulling out of the parking lot and off to urban district. He smiled a little as he saw a pasture of sheep along the country side before glancing back on the road ahead. Soon, thoughts of worry and uncertainty started to cloud his mind as he wondered about what he would do now for income; it seemed as though he had tried every job he could think of. But no matter how hard he tried poor Jimmy could never seem to get a break in life.

"All I ever do is suffer, even in making a living for myself; I just can't ever seem to win!"

The wheels spun and thumped when driving over some rocks, but soon the rocky roads turned to smooth concrete as he enter into the metropolis district of Gotham City. The cars can be seen bustling by from every direction as people could be heard yelling from their cars. Jimmy sighed a bit as he drove by and saw a young man giving a speech in front of city hall. The cameras and journalists were all fixed on him, on his every word, as he smiled and made some gestures while making his speech. Jimmy just groaned and muttered; "Life must be great for a guy like Bruce Wayne. That guy has it all…girls, money, power, influence, attention…" He sighed afterward as he noticed the light had turned green. Of course, his distraction from the road was not unnoticed as a driver from behind started yelling and cursing at him. Jimmy just shook his head and frowned as he drove off and headed toward his apartment.

Frustrated and worn out, he just parked his car in front of the building where he resided. Children played on the streets whenever cars were not around and on the side walks as well. The children in the neighborhood loved Jimmy because he was always fun to be around and he cared a lot for them; he was like the big brother they never had…or wanted to have. But today was a bad day for Jimmy and he didn't want to talk to anyone, so he just ignored the calling children and walked up the steps to the front door. The children knew that introduction anywhere as one of the kids muttered; "He got fired again…." They all felt bad and wish they knew how to help him out, but how?

After he had found his keys, Jimmy unlocked the door and proceeded down the narrow hallway till he found his apartment number; Room J13. Upon walking into the dimly lit living room, he opened the coat closet to the side of the apartment entrance and hanged his coat on a coat rack and shut the down quietly afterward. Taking his usual pace, he casually walked up to his answering machine and played the messages that were received that day. Nothing but the usual telemarketer's scam and annoying relatives poking into his personal affairs as he shook his head and made himself a sandwich. Sighing a bit, Jimmy shook his head and muttered; "Just your typical day in the life of Jimmy Fibionni'" Frowning a bit as he took a bite into the roast beef on rye, he turned his attention to the answering machine as one unexpected person decided to leave a message. "Hi Jimmy, long time no see; huh? I know it's been awhile since high school and all, but I wanted to see how you were doing? I hope it'll be ok if I could stop by and just catch up on old times. I know I've been so busy with college and studying psychology, I've never had a real chance to check in on you. I really miss you and I hope that…you might feel the same way… Um, I'll be staying at the Gotham Grand Hotel in the downtown Eastern district till Thursday; I hope I can get a buzz… My cell phone number is…" He sighed and turned off the answering machine and decided to take a shower, to calm his nerves and try to forget the day's events. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake it off.

Finally, he just decided to take down his long time friend's number down and give her a call. After a few rings, her voice mail kicked in, as he started to leave a message. Much to his nerves, this was much easier than having to talk to her face to face as he finished his message and put the phone away. Unsure on what to do next, he decided to just get some fresh air.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood kids got together and discussed Jimmy's situation and came up with a solution. One of the kids stood out and seemed to run things as they went along, he happened to really care about Jimmy and thought of him as an older brother; everyone called him Jack. Just as all the crowd of kids reached Jimmy's apartment, he had just opened the front building door and stepped out. Everyone started shouting his name and started to tackle him to the steps. A smile crept up Jimmy's face as the kids smothered him from every direction; it was a usual theme for them to greet him in such a fashion. Laughing a little, Jimmy shook his head and smiled at them all and said; "You know there's more than one way to greet a friend. I'm not sure if I can survive another attack like that!" They all laughed and helped him off the steps as Jimmy brushed the dirt off his pants. Jack smiled and observed Jimmy a bit before telling the good news; "Uh, Jimmy… We uh, came up with a really good plan and I hope you'll agree. Like, Tommy's uncle works for the Gotham Quad Circus in the southwest district and well, they have an opening I think you'll like!" Jimmy immediately grabbed his head like he suffered from a migraine and muttered; "Oh Jack, not this again! I told you already, I can find my own job; ok?" Jack just frowned and shouted in frustration; "You always say that! Then in a few weeks, you're back to being unemployed! None of them seem to click, but I think the reason why is because you don't enjoy what you do. I think you'll really like this... Please Jimmy, just give it a chance; please?!" Jimmy wanted to say something, but all the kids started to give him that puppy eyes look and he just shook his head and smiled. "Ok…OK! I'll give it a shot, just…don't do that!" He started to laugh again as he added; "You know how I feel about the puppy eyes!" All the kids cheered in victory as Jack took Jimmy's hand and walked with him to the circus where Tommy's uncle worked at. As they walked Jack added; "Tommy already called and they're waiting for us." Jimmy blinked and looked at Jack; "How did you know I would say yes? That was a risk…" Jack smiled and laughed a little as he shrugged casually; "Well, got to take chances in life. Besides, I knew the puppy eyes would work; Ha ah!" Jimmy smirked and shook his head; "Yeah, the puppy eyes are pretty powerful; I'm almost tempted to say it's invincible!" Jimmy just loved the kids in the neighbor, it was the only blessing he really could look to, they gave him the light needed to keep on going. Every last one of those kids was like family to him and he would do practically anything for them; especially Jack.


End file.
